Fabric 101: Organza

Organza is a sheer fabric with a very stiff drape. Organza is often used as an overlay layer on a skirt or bodice, or as a gathered underlayer to give a skirt or sleeves more body. Originally organza was always made using silk, but it’s more common to find polyester organza nowadays. Silk organza is smoother and has more drape than the synthetic counterpart.

Organza is great for creating sheer, full-bodied ruffles on dresses and gowns to add volume and style. It is a rather delicate fabric, easily ripping or running, so it’s most often used in costumes, wedding dresses, and other special occasion garment types that are not everyday wear.

Fabric	Organza
Texture?	Smooth
Heavy or light?	Lightweight
Stiff or flowy drape?	Stiff drape
Nap?	No nap
Typical fiber content?	Traditionally silk, nowadays polyester and nylon are more common
Opaque or sheer?	Sheer fabric
Shiny?	Slight sheen
Fraying?	Frays easily
Pilling?	Resistant to pilling, but it rips and runs easily
What to make?	Organza is used for outer layers on multi-tiered skirts, full-bodied ruffles, voluminous sleeves, costumes, tutus, and wedding dresses
What needle to use?	Best to use microtex needles, sometimes universal 60 or 70 is also appropriate

What kind of fabric is organza?

Organza is a lightweight, sheer fabric that’s typically used as an outer layer for skirts and dresses or for adding volume. Unlike many other types of lightweight fabrics, organza is very structured and stiff when it’s draped, meaning it is better for bigger, fuller skirts, and not for slinky, body-hugging designs.

Organza is also a very delicate fabric, especially traditional silk organza. It has a loose weave (which is what helps make it lightweight and sheer), which means it’s also prone to getting long, running rips along the fabric. It can even tear down the entire length of a seam, making it unsuitable for any tight-fitting clothing.

While organza was originally a luxurious silk fabric, it is more common to find its synthetic version nowadays. Synthetic organza is typically made from polyester (and sometimes nylon), and is cheaper and more wrinkle-resistant, making it a good choice for cosplay and costuming.

organza fabric versus chiffon

Organza and chiffon are both a type of sheer (or semi-sheer) fabric that is often used as an outer layer or overlay in elegant evening wear or wedding dresses. While there are some minor differences in the texture and shine of the two types of fabric (organza is typically smoother with a slight sheen, while chiffon is matte), the most distinct difference is in the drape of the two fabrics.

Organza is known for having a stiff drape that gives a gown more floof in its appearance. Chiffon has a much softer drape that flows with a more slinky, body-hugging feel. 

Learn more about chiffon fabric and how to sew with it

What can you make with organza fabric?

Historically, organza was a high-end fabric that was mainly used in evening gowns and wedding dresses. It’s usually used as an outer layer of a skirt or an overlay of a bodice. Now, it’s also commonly used in costuming, some ballet dance attire, and even some upholstery items, such as curtains and lampshades. Organza can also be used as an underlayer to add fullness to puff sleeves and large, layered skirts. Organza is not a type of fabric that’s typically used in everyday clothing.

Properties of organza fabric

• Texture: Organza fabric is fairly smooth to the touch on both sides of the fabric. Silk organza is slightly softer, while polyester and synthetic organza have a more plastic-like smooth feeling.
• Weight: Organza is an extremely lightweight fabric. The material has an almost feather-like feel to it.
• Drape: Organza is a type of material with a stiff drape. It can hold its shape very well, especially when gathered to create volume.
• Fiber composition: Most organza that you can get from a hobby sewing store is going to be synthetic (usually polyester or nylon). Organza used in wedding gowns is usually the real deal in silk.
• Opacity: Some types of organza are more sheer than others, but all will be some level of see-through. In some cases, you can use organza in a double layer or lined to make it somewhat opaque.
• Shine: While not a shiny fabric per se, organza has a slight sheen to the surface that is noticeable in the right light. Low-quality polyester organza can have a more plastic-like ugly sheen rather than the elegant sheen of higher-quality material.
• Fraying: Organza fabric is known to fray quite easily. When you’re sewing with the material, it may feel like the fabric is almost disintegrating if you handle it too much.
• Durability: Organza can rip quite easily. If you’re not careful, those tears will create runs in the material that can cause the organza to completely rip apart.
• Wrinkling: Neither silk organza nor synthetic organza wrinkle too easily. However, only synthetic organza is truly wrinkle-resistant. It’s common for silk to get some small amount of crinkles while you wear it, but usually, it doesn’t create deep creases.

How to sew with organza fabric

Organza is a delicate fabric, so it’s not the easiest to sew. However, since it’s not as flowy and slippery as many other types of delicate fabrics, you’ll find it’s not as much of a headache as you’d expect. 

The main areas that you need to address when sewing with organza include:

1. Avoid ripping the fabric. When creating your notches, it’s best to use chalk or a tailor’s tack to avoid starting a rip or run in the material.
2. Handle with care to avoid excess fraying. Make sure you have a decent seam allowance to start with so your edges don’t fray away (you can cut the excess off later). Then only handle your pattern pieces when you must to prevent excess fraying. 
3. Use fabric weights when cutting to avoid fabric drift. When cutting your fabric, use weights. Although the fabric is not slippery, it’s lightweight enough that it can drift so the weights will keep your fabric in place.
4. Use sharp pins to avoid puckering and pin holes. Get some extra fine pins and try to only use them in the seam allowance so you don’t have any pin holes in your final garment.
5. Use a very fine needle when sewing with organza. This will help you prevent puckering around the seam. I recommend using microtex needles, but you can usually get away with using a small size 60 or 70 universal needles as well.
6. Use a small stitch length to give the seams more strength. It’s best to use a stitch length that’s around 2 mm so that the seam doesn’t end up being a weak point of the garment.
7. Use a straight stitch plate. This can help prevent the fabric from being sucked or munched under the presser foot.

You could also consider using French or enclosed seams when sewing with organza. Not only is this a fairly sturdy type of seam finish, but it also looks neater in the end. You won’t see the finished edges through the sheer organza fabric.

How to care for organza fabric

Since organza is a delicate fabric, you need to be extra careful with cleaning, ironing, and storing it. If you don’t take care, there’s a high chance the organza will tear and be completely ruined.

For the most part, you should steam organza garments to de-wrinkle them, rather than using an iron. Pushing the iron around on the fabric puts more stress on it, making it more likely to tear. It’s also just more practical to steam most organza clothing since it tends to be large bulky skirts that would take ages to fully iron.

Organza is a very delicate fabric, so you shouldn’t wash it in a traditional washing machine. It’s best to gently hand wash your organza garments or send them to the dry cleaners. This is especially important because organza is almost always attached to other types of fabric that also require delicate care.